Monday 11 October 2010

Proverbs was written for Boys

So says Doug Wilson in Appendix B of Future Men
'the book of Proverbs provides us with an example of what sort of instruction is necessary. The book as a whole is applicable to the writer's son, and many passages apply the teaching specifically to him. What does God say a son should be told?' 
A boy must learn to be teachable: 
Proverbs 1:7-8 
Proverbs 2:1
Proverbs 3:1-2 
Proverbs 3:21 
Proverbs 4:1-3 
Proverbs 4:10 
Proverbs 4:20 
Proverbs 5:1
Proverbs 6:20-21
Proverbs 7:1-3
Proverbs 13:1 
Proverbs 19:27 

If the book of Proverbs teaches anything to sons, it teaches them to
listen. Sons are told to: 
  • hear instruction 
  • receive sayings 
  • incline ears
  • hide commandments 
  • forget not parental law
  • keep wisdom & understanding in view
  • bow the ears to understanding 
  • keep a father's commands
  • forsake not a mother's law
  • bind wise words to the heart
  • wear them as a necktie
  • guard them as the apple of the eye
  • wear them as rings on the fingers 
'generally, taking one thing with another, to shut up, sit down and listen.' 
'(the regular repetition) should be an encouragement to parents who feel they have to repeat themselves too much. They might assume that the need for repetition means that they have failed. It does not necessarily mean anything of the kind. What it means is that boys are tough ground that need a lot of ploughing.' 
'The first subject on the curriculum is to be teaching a son to hear'
 'In order to get a son's attention it is necessary to discipline him. Boys are not born teachable, and godly discipline is resisted by them.' They have to be taught this too: 
Proverbs 3:11-12

'..discipline is not intended as a behaviourist exercise ... The correction is to enable a boy to receive instruction.'
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.
My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad;
my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
Proverbs 23:12-16
Proverbs 13:24 
Proverbs 19:13, 18
Proverbs 29:17 


Once they are listening, a son needs to learn about women. At least Proverbs has a lot to say on that subject. 

Proverbs 5:1-23 

Proverbs 6:23-35
Proverbs 7:1-27
Proverbs 23:26-28
Proverbs 31:3 

They need to learn about
money
Proverbs 6:1-3

And laziness / greed
Proverbs 23:19-26
Proverbs 6:6-11
Proverbs 28:7
Proverbs 31:1-5
Proverbs 1:10-15 

And
political activism
Proverbs 24:21-22

In short wisdom in sons is a true glory: Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 24:13-14


Sons do a lot of good, or they do a lot of damage. 

They bring great grief or great gladness.
Proverbs 15:20; Proverbs 17:25


p185 
Future Men

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